National Championship Eligibility Criteria (Update)
The ABSC has received some concerned feedback from players about the recent decision to allow Australian Permanent Residents to compete in National championships from now on.
Obviously this changes a long-standing practice, so it is worth setting out the reasons for the decision:
An increasing number of the playing community are permanent residents. 7% - 8% of the entire Australian population are permanent residents, and the proportion of the playing community is likely to be much higher than this. Often, permanent residents choose not to take out Australian citizenship because this would require them to relinquish citizenship of their country of birth. This presents significant access problems for people with relatives or other interests in their birth country. India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and many Middle Eastern nations do not allow dual citizenship, placing Australian permanent residents from those countries in a difficult position.
·The Member States of the ABSC do not capture data on citizenship status, so compliance with the previous criteria has been impractical for many years. It is likely that many permanent residents have competed in National championships recently without being identified as such.
·The change brings the ABSC into line with almost all other sports including tennis, swimming, eight-ball, athletics, darts, karate and table tennis which allow permanent residents to compete in National championships but only allow citizens to represent Australia internationally. There are no major sports that restrict permanent residents from playing in National championships, although pool events organised by APPA do so.
·Selection for Australian representation is the responsibility of the ABSC tournament committee, which takes a variety of factors into account when offering places, not just the results of a single event. Those players doing well in National championships will always be considered for selection if they are interested.
As a permanent resident, players should be fully aware that they cannot represent Australia in any IBSF Championships.
Like all other Australian National Sporting Organisations, the ABSC has an obligation to identify when there is a need to implement change for the betterment of our sport.
The ABSC will monitor the outcomes of this particular change, and the subsequent evaluation will take into consideration feedback from the billiards & snooker community.
There will be a players’ meeting held in conjunction with the Bob Hawke Australian Snooker Open at Mounties in October, and the changes to eligibility for entry to the National Championships will be a discussion item. Written submissions for this item will also be accepted prior to the meeting for consideration.